have we already spent all this time together?
by niigoki
Summary: Snippets of the adventures of Alicia Clark and Elyza Lex as they look for Alicia's family. OR: Elyza is overprotective and Alicia gets it for some reason. (contains hints of past lives)
1. your eyes

I am not even going to try to explain myself here, thanks tumblr for all the inspiration.

* * *

"Wakey wakey eggs and bakey," The hoarse voice was way too close to Alicia's ear, which made her sit up fast, a hand flying up to her chest. The blonde woman snapped away before getting hit in the face by the mass of brown hair, chuckling in that annoying tone like she always did. Alicia blinked a few times to make sense of her surroundings and realized she had fallen asleep on the couch the night before.

"Don't you _ever_ do that again," She managed to spill as her heart beat like crazy.

"Sorry, love, couldn't resist." The blonde said with a teasing smirk. "To be fair I wanted to wake you up sooner, but you looked too cute and peaceful for me to ruin that."

Alicia should've blushed at the shameless flirting, but after spending nearly a week with Elyza "romantic extraordinaire" Lex, all she could do was roll her eyes and fight back a smile from forming on her lips. "Shut up."

Elyza got up and offered a hand to her companion. "Aye, aye, Commander."

Alicia gulped and grabbed her hand, getting up as well. She still felt uneasy with the weird nicknames Elyza gave her, but couldn't find it in herself to ask her to stop. There was something there, something she was afraid to ruin if she dwelled too much on it; so she just feigned ignorance.

Touching the blonde's hand made her frown as she felt the texture of a bandage that definitely wasn't there last night. "You okay? What happened?"

"Oh, uh…" It was the first time since they started traveling together that Alicia heard the Australian stutter. "I kinda tried to see if the stove was working and cut my hand on the stupid thing."

"The stove?"

"Yeah, I, um, found some eggs and bacon on the fridge. Thought I could cook something for ya."

Another thing about that flirtatious blonde that made Alicia's insides flutter: she never seemed to stop doing things for her. Even though they were in a survival situation where most people had adopted the "every man for himself" philosophy, Elyza Lex apparently hadn't got the memo. She'd saved Alicia's life three times now, and in all of those she had put her own life in danger to ensure Alicia's safety.

Then there were the nights they'd spent together. Elyza made sure to stay awake and keep watch, her shotgun always by her side. She always reassured the brunette that she didn't need much sleep anyway, and insisted that Alicia rested as much as possible. And since she was probably the most stubborn Australian in the world, there was nothing Alicia could do or say that could make her change her mind, so she just gave up trying.

Now this. Two days ago when they looted a supermarket looking for food, the first thing Elyza did was ask her casually what food she missed the most. Alicia had said eggs and bacon, but never imagined something would come out of it.

"You're an idiot," Alicia said in a joking tone after a while of staring at the blonde's faint blush. Elyza just grinned.

"Yeah, well, worth the try. Now I probably got tetanus or some shit." She grabbed her rifle and her bag and started walking towards the door. Alicia let out a raspy laugh and grabbed her own supplies, following her.

Both girls were on a journey to find Alicia's family, but so far no luck. After saving her from a walker six days ago, Elyza had decided to tag along until they could reunite. Upon being asked why, the blonde just shrugged and said that "it just felt right", but Alicia knew there was something else behind those words. It was a tugging feeling in her stomach, the same one she got when Elyza first asked her "have we met before?" and the same one she got whenever they held gazes for too long.

Also the fact that Elyza was blatantly hitting on her at every possible minute didn't exactly help.

"So, where to today?" Elyza asked, stretching her arms once they were out of the abandoned house.

"Let's keep moving east, I guess," Alicia replied. "Something tells me that there is where Travis would guide everyone."

"Sounds like a plan," And with a smirk, Elyza started walking. Alicia took a deep breath to reorganize her thoughts and with a firm nod, followed the blonde.

* * *

"I spy with my little eye… something red." Elyza Lex apparently was not capable of walking in silence for more than five minutes, and so she decided to play a game – one that Alicia was not in the mood for, but got along with if it meant not having to listen to more terrible pickup lines.

"I don't fucking know, blood?" She mumbled, bothered by the sun in her eyes.

"No, you gruesome person. Look around, it's not that hard."

Alicia sighed and moved her head, looking for whatever the girl was talking about. It didn't take long for her to spot it. "That bike over there?"

"Yeah! Now your turn."

"Do I have to?"

"Come on, don't be a bitch."

"Oh my God you are annoying," Alicia knew she was whining to tease her, but still tried very hard to make it sound real. When she felt Elyza poking her ribs she gave up. "Fine. I spy with my little eye… something obnoxious."

The blonde frowned and started looking around like her life depended on it. There was not much to see on the road, just some abandoned cars and houses, a few trees in people's backyards and some birds flying around. Nothing near them fit the description, unless it was a person.

Then it clicked.

"You're talking about me, aren't you?"

"You're good at this game, gotta hand it to you."

Elyza elbowed her out of the way, making Alicia laugh out loud for the very first time since getting separated from her family. The blonde's heart skipped a beat and something told her that she'd been waiting to hear that sound for a long time now. She tried to play it cool by clearing her throat, but Alicia's laugh hadn't subdued.

"Stop it, it's my turn!" Elyza said with a smile.

She really didn't want her to stop. She wanted to hear that sound forever.

Alicia held up a hand, gesturing her to wait a minute, another hand on her stomach. After a while, she managed to catch her breath and wipe the small tears that had formed in her eyes.

"Oh, man… Okay, go."

"You ass," Elyza said, still grinning. "Alright, I spy with my little eye… Something shiny."

Alicia turned her neck around, hey eyes scanning the surroundings. "That's not fair, the sunlight is making literally anything shiny."

"What's that? Sounds like a bad loser to me."

"Fuck you," With another full check, Alicia grunted. She had gotten invested in the game, and if there was something Alicia Clark hated was to lose when she really tried for the prize. "That car bumper over there?"

"Hmmmm nope." Elyza adjusted the shotgun strap on her shoulder.

"Then one of those street lamps?"

"Not even close."

"Shit," She mumbled under her breath. Elyza took that moment to shoot a side-glance to the girl next to her and genuinely smiled at how cute she looked all competitive like that. The way Alicia's eyes moved from left to right and her jaw clenched made her take a quick deep breath. There was something about that expression that was too familiar to her, just like some of the girl's other body movements. She couldn't quite place it, but she took comfort in having her by her side in that wasteland.

"Alright, I don't know. The windows, some random metal, car tires?"

"No, no, and… nah." The blonde smirked. "Don't worry, sky girl. Not all of us can be winners in life."

"Then what is it?" Alicia was this close to slapping that dumb pretty face.

Elyza stood quiet for a moment as they walked, as if hesitating on her next sentence. She licked her lips as she spoke. "Your eyes."

If she wasn't on auto-pilot, Alicia might've just stopped on her tracks and stood there frozen in the middle of the road. She knew Elyza liked to flirt, but it was mostly dumb pick-up lines and jokes between them. Nothing that came out of her mouth ever felt this sincere, and Alicia wasn't really sure what to say to that apparent confession. The weirdest of all was that she knew deep inside that the Australian was telling the truth – she wasn't making fun of her eyes, she truly thought they were beautiful. And solely by the way she said that, it felt like they were the most beautiful things in the entire universe for her.

They walked side by side in silence for a couple of minutes before Alicia swallowed and opened her mouth again.

"I can't even see my eyes. That one didn't count."

Elyza didn't turn her head to look at her before cracking a bright smile. "I'll make it my life's mission to get you a mirror, then."

* * *

They arrived at a convenience store short after, and Elyza asked the brunette to stay put as she went inside to check for walkers. Every nerve in Alicia's body was screaming for her not to leave the blonde's side, but she only nodded and waited. The more time they spent together, the less time she wanted to be apart from her. Which was strange, since she never considered herself a clingy person to begin with.

A few moments later Elyza came out. "All clear!"

Alicia sighed, relieved, and they started looking for supplies. The brunette found some new bandages and water, as well as canned food. She put all that she could fit inside her bag when something caught her eye: a single package of cigarettes that apparently had fallen behind the counter.

Alicia knew Elyza was a smoker and was already on the last of her cigars, probably keeping the last few for emergencies. She didn't want to encourage this habit of hers, especially if they were going to run out of them eventually, but then she thought about her brother. Nick was also in the road for recovery, and their mom had brought along some medicine to help him get clear little by little. Alicia felt like it was her duty to do the same for her friend.

 _Friend? Partner? Acquaintance?_

Who the hell knew.

She put the bag down to get better access to the counter. Crouching down, she tried to reach for the package, but it was too far away. "Dammit," She cursed under her breath and looked around for something to help her grab it. Finally, she spotted an umbrella. After taking it, she moved once again to the counter and used the handle to get better access to it.

As soon as it touched the package, she felt something pull strongly on the other side.

Alicia screamed as the hand grabbed her arm and started pulling its deformed body towards her own. She tried to kick it in the face, but the walker managed to grab her leg as soon as the hit landed.

"Elyz-!" She couldn't even finish her sentence, feeling strong arms enveloping her waist and pulling her away from the thing. Once Alicia was safe, Elyza grabbed one of the guns in her pocket and shoot the walker right in between the eyes in a swift movement. It stopped fretting immediately, one last moan slipping away from its dead throat.

"Oh my God—"

"Did it bite you?" Elyza was immediately by her side. Alicia had never seen her that worried before. The blonde was shaking more than her, even though it was hard to tell since her heart was pounding a thousand miles per hour.

"N… No I don't… think so?" Alicia lifted her arms to check, and then her leg. Everything seemed to be unscathed, but Elyza made sure to look at it three times to be sure. "I'm— fine. Thank you."

Sitting down, the blonde almost looked on the verge of collapsing. She put her shotgun down and rubbed her hands on her face, taking deep breaths to calm down. Then she pushed her hair back and sighed heavily. "Holy shit. I almost got you killed."

"What?" Alicia frowned. "You saved me, what are you talking about?"

"No. I said everything was clear, and it wasn't. I put you in danger, I'm such an _idiot_!" Elyza punched the counter so strongly that it made a dent in the metal. They stood quiet while Alicia waited for the hotheaded Australian to calm down. Elyza slowly retreated her hand to her lap and rubbed it. "Ouch."

"Hey." Alicia said, and when the blonde didn't look up, she grabbed her wounded hand carefully, placing it on her lap. "Listen to me. That wasn't your fault. That thing was hidden in the last possible place anyone would ever think of looking. And even then, you saved me. Again. That makes it what, four times now?"

She spotted a hint of a smile crawling in the blonde's face. "Five, actually."

Alicia blinked. "Five?"

"There was that one time you went to pee and there was no toilet paper and I had to go grab some for you."

The brunette's deadpan gaze pierced Elyza's entire body. "Oh, shut up."

Elyza chuckled at that, and Alicia's chest grew warm. At least she was back at being a dork. "The point is, I'm okay. You're okay. Now let's take care of your hand before you get tetanus _and_ a fractured bone."

"Aye, aye, Commander." And with Alicia's help, both girls got up. Elyza tilted her head to the side, confused about one thing.

"What were you even trying to do behind that counter?"

"Oh." For some reason Alicia felt herself blush. "There was a package of… cigarettes. I wanted to grab it for you. As a thanks, I guess." She cleared her throat. "For everything you did for me so far."

Elyza's eyes widened and she suddenly turned around to grab her bag. She shoved her good hand in it, looking for something, and resurfaced with the last of her cigarettes in a clenched fist. Then she threw them on the floor and smashed them with the sole of her boots.

Alicia's mouth hanged open. "What are you doing?!"

After she made sure there was nothing left but ashes and nicotine stains on the dirty floor, she looked right into Alicia's eyes. "Removing unnecessary shit from our lives."

The way Elyza said _our lives_ made Alicia's entire body melt.

* * *

I mean, come on. Elyza Lex is just? the best thing this fandom's ever made.

Hope you liked it! Reviews always appreciated! Might continue this~

-niigoki


	2. warpaint

The sun was at its peak now, indicating that it was probably midday, and normally that was when Elyza broke into a house so they could have a snack in an actual table instead of the floor. The blonde, however, seemed to be distracted and in a bit of a hurry since she'd barely spoken at all after leaving the convenience store. Alicia was starting to worry.

"Aren't you hungry?" She tried for a casual approach, not wanting to sound too concerned. There was no answer for a while, and Alicia almost decided to drop it when the Aussie spoke.

"Let's walk a few more blocks and then stop, alright?"

Alicia nods, happy to hear her voice after a silent walk. Elyza was a few steps ahead of her, so the brunette took a moment to look at her body language unconsciously. The way the blonde's hips barely moved as she walked, her backs always straight in a somewhat professional posture as the shotgun moved up and down from its strap, the messy hair, the boots that made her a bit taller than Alicia. All of those things almost seemed to jog a very distant memory in the girl's brain, but it was too distant to reach and she was afraid of what she'd find once she was able to grasp it. It was a like a whole set of memories was locked inside her mind and the more time she spent with Elyza Lex, the weaker the locks became.

Then she looked over to Elyza's wounded hand and realized it was bleeding. The blonde didn't seem to have noticed, or if she did, she was ignoring it. Judging by how red and swollen her skin was, it was probably the latter. "Your hand looks awful, we should change your bandages."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Alicia quickened her steps to catch up with her. "Stop being stubborn for one freaking minute and let me help you. Please?"

Elyza sighed, but didn't slow down. She turned to look right into Alicia's eyes – something that was becoming quite frequent, she noticed – and nodded softly. "Okay."

Alicia nodded back and guided her to one of the abandoned houses by her elbow. Of course Elyza prohibited her from entering before she checked the perimeter. "I'll try not to screw it up this time."

The brunette was about to retort, but Elyza was quicker and vanished into the residence. Alicia stood by the door with arms crossed and brows furrowed, one leg moving up and down nervously. She knew Elyza still blamed herself for what happened back at the store, even though she had no reasons to. They've been hanging out together for only 6 days, and that was not nearly enough time to form _that_ kind of connection with someone.

When they first met, the blonde irradiated a laidback and badass attitude, and Alicia was pretty sure that this girl who killed five walkers with 2 shots of her shotgun feared nothing and cared for nothing. But as time went by, she figured out her weakness was probably how attached she easily got to other people. Maybe that was why she'd been traveling alone for so long before meeting Alicia.

 _Love is weakness._

The words echoed through her brain, and Alicia blinked, shocked. Where did that come from? She shook her head, forcing herself to focus on other things.

Like the fact that Elyza still hadn't come back yet.

"Elyza?" She didn't want to shout in case a walker was nearby, but her heart was racing now. "Everything okay?"

The place was quiet, and the rational part of Alicia told her to just stay put and that she would be back soon. The emotional part, however, urged her to rush into the house and rescue that dumb blonde, and for once her emotions won. She ran, both hands gripping the baseball bat she used as weapon, her untrained steps too loud for her taste.

It didn't take long for Elyza to walk out of the kitchen and bump into her. "Woah! What are you doing here? I told you to stay put!"

"You were taking too long! I got…" Alicia stopped to catch her breath. "Worried."

"I do the worrying around here, sky girl," Elyza said that in a somewhat jokingly manner, but Alicia was too agitated to play her games at the moment.

"Why? Why do you care so much about me? You're just some random stranger who saved me once and owns me nothing, what makes me so damn special that you go out of your way to help me so much?" All of the emotions bottled up for the past few days came crashing down at that moment, and Alicia knew that she should stop sounding crazy and just be grateful for having a badass walker-killer by her side. But her mouth couldn't stop spilling words apparently. "What if you had died in this goddamn house, what then? Don't just leave me behind while you play hero Elyza, holy shit!"

Once her breakdown ceased, they just stood in silence staring at each other. Elyza licked her lips and averted her gaze, adjusting the strap of the shotgun on her shoulder (she did that when she was nervous, Alicia had realized). The brunette tried to stop her heavy breathing little by little, now feeling awkward for the explosion. She closed her eyes and scratched the back of her head. "…I'm sorry."

"No, you're right." Elyza said, looking up. "We gotta have each other's backs. We're a team, right? You and me."

Alicia stared at her with glossy eyes and rubbed them with the sleeve of her jacket. "Yeah." She sighed heavily, suddenly very tired. "Come on, let's fix your hand and eat."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

Alicia smiled at that and both headed out for the kitchen table.

* * *

"I could teach you how to shoot," Elyza commented casually as Alicia took care of her hand. The brunette grabbed a new bandage after cleaning the blood with a wet towel and was wrapping it around her hand gently. "Even though I don't feel like guns suit you, honestly."

"Me neither," Alicia mumbled, focused on her task. Elyza watched her with a soft grin, her chest warm by how tender the girl could be underneath the huge layers of sarcasm.

"Knives are not really practical, you'd have to get too close… Unless you knew how to throw them." Elyza was still thinking about better weapons Alicia could use to defend herself that didn't include having to bash skulls like the baseball bat. It was messy and not really effective. "Maybe something sharp, but lengthy."

"What, like a sword?" Alicia said that with a smirk on her face, not really meaning it. After Elyza got quiet at the suggestion, she had to look up. "…That was a jok—"

"Hell fucking yes."

"Oh, please." Alicia scoffed, finishing wrapping up her hand. "All done. Does it hurt?"

Elyza moved her fingers a little bit to test them. "Not really." Then she carefully lifted Alicia's hand that was still covering hers up to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on it, smirking. "Thank you, my lady."

The brunette rolled her eyes, pulling back and cleaning said hand on the wet towel. "God."

"But seriously, though," Elyza continued, as if nothing had happened and as if she didn't notice the huge blush on the girl's face. "I can totally see it. You, in the middle of a hoard of walkers, two swords in hands, a killer stare on your eyes, decapitating all of them in a tornado of blades…"

"You watch too many movies," Alicia got up and started grabbing some food from her bag. "Besides, where would we even find a sword?"

"I might know a place."

"Somehow I don't doubt that," Alicia's lips tugged up in an almost smile as she opened one can of cold beans. Turning back around she looked for a spoon and napkins and placed them on the table once she found some, sitting down as well. "Eat up."

Alicia started munching on the food, but noticed Elyza just sat there motionless, with a very fake pout on her face. She had to fight really hard the urge to not roll her eyes. "What is it now?"

The blonde just lifted her hand up. "Hand hurts."

"You said it didn't hurt a minute ago."

"Well, it doesn't if I just stay still, but I don't wanna risk brusque movements."

"So what? Use your right hand," One of the first things Alicia had noticed about Elyza was that she was left-handed, but she would never admit paying attention to small details about the girl.

"My right hand sucks. What if I spill food all over myself? We can't waste our water on washing a stain, that'd be dumb."

"Oh my god," Alicia's expression yelled 'done with you' as she stared. "What do you want then?"

Elyza just propped her face up on her right hand and opened her mouth, a smirk clearly visible. Alicia took a while to understand what the hell she was doing, but raised her eyebrows once she got the message. "I am not feeding you, are you serious?"

The blonde let out a raspy chuckle and sat back straight, finally grabbing the spoon. "Worth a try." She was not, in fact, terrible at holding things with her weaker hand, which made Alicia all the more flustered.

"What's wrong with you?..." Alicia mumbled, clearly not angry, but just embarrassed. She put a spoonful of beans in her mouth in the hopes of not having to talk for a long time while she ate. Still, deep down she was happy that Elyza was back to her normal self instead of all the awkward silence from earlier.

"Not gonna pass up the opportunity of having a cute girl feeding me," Elyza managed to say in between bites. "Ew, cold beans are the worst."

Alicia felt her cheeks burning. She was still getting used to the fact that Elyza Lex could shift from flirtatious to casual conversation in a matter of seconds and wondered just how much of what she said she actually really meant. She knew the girl cared for her to _some_ extent, or else she wouldn't have risked her life time and time again to save her ass. Alicia just wished she knew what exactly was the truth behind the blonde's actions.

She also wondered what would happen if she decided to be a little more adventurous with the cocky Australian.

Alicia did nothing for a couple of minutes and then, without saying a word, moved her chair closer to the other girl and held out a spoonful of beans in her general direction. Elyza stopped her arm midair, mouth hanging open as if she was seeing an illusion. Alicia just pushed the spoon forward, urging her to eat.

"Seriously?" Elyza said, shocked.

"Just take it before I change my mind." Alicia replied, as dry as she possibly could. Elyza smiled and moved her mouth, eating the whole spoon in one deliberately slow bite. The brunette could feel the girl's tongue swirling around it and immediately wanted to yank it away from her mouth, but found herself hypnotized by the way her lips cleaned the entire silver flatware. She did that ridiculously well, and Alicia's heart leaped a beat as she stared. Elyza finally removed her lips from the spoon and started to chew.

"We're in an apocalypse, we don't have enough water to quench that amount of thirst, love." Were the first words that came out of the blonde's mouth after she swallowed the beans. Alicia blinked, the spell officially broken, and moved her chair away from her with a slap on the blonde's arm.

"Shof op."

Both froze at the same time, Elyza's laughter stopping completely. She could feel the hairs in her backs stand up as a powerful shiver went down her spine; the same thing apparently happened to Alicia.

"…What was that?"

"I meant… Shut up." The brunette stammered. "I think there was a… a bean on my teeth or s-something." Alicia couldn't be less convincing if she tried. Elyza exhaled and nodded, not wanting to push it.

"Probably some forgotten slang. We have those too," Elyza cleared her throat and resumed eating with her right hand. "Like 'oy mate, put on your thongs and let's head down to the my rellies' barbie next door'."

Alicia couldn't hold back a smile at that. "What's that even supposed to mean?"

"Get to know me a little more and maybe I'll tell ya." And the Aussie was back with the teasing, which was honestly a relief.

Alicia definitely didn't want to think about how fast her heart was beating because of the strange words that unconsciously leaked out of her mouth.

* * *

Lunch was over and the two girls were back on the road heading east. Elyza was back to her normal self with pointless chitchat to improve everyone's moods and silly games that made Alicia laugh. Every now and then they would come across a walker and Elyza would simply shoot it in the head with extremely good precision and then just resume their conversation, something that always surprised the brunette. She didn't like guns in particular, but seeing the Aussie use them so easily was honestly stunning. Alicia looked down at her baseball bat and felt silly all of a sudden.

"Hey," They were walking side-by-side, hands brushing occasionally. "You said you knew a place."

"I know lots of places." Elyza smirked.

"You know what I'm talking about." Alicia blinked the sunlight off he eyes. "The… sword thing?"

"Ah, so that did get your attention," The blonde side glanced her, then nodded. "Yeah, I know somewhere on the underground. They sell some pretty cool weapons."

Alicia knew that asking the girl how she even came across a place like this was going to be pointless, so she just nodded in agreement. "Is it anywhere near here?"

Elyza didn't answer right away and fretted with her shotgun for a while. Alicia knew when to be patient, so she simply waited while listening to their steps on the hot concrete. "Kinda."

"Meaning…?"

"We might need to sidetrack for a bit." Elyza didn't want to hold back from finding the brunette's family; that was the main concern for both of them right now. She knew how much Alicia missed them and honestly, for what was worth, making sure the girl was safe with the people she loved was all Elyza could think about right now.

"Alight," Alicia blurted out suddenly, making Elyza turn to her.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure everyone is safe." Alicia said that almost as if she was trying to convince herself more than anything. "We'll find them eventually." Then she stopped on her tracks, looking down. Elyza halted as well, facing the brunette with soft eyes. "And I might as well learn how to protect myself in case something happens to you, too."

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows, but nodded, understanding. They couldn't take anything – or anyone – for granted in the scenario they found themselves in, that much had already been made clear. It'd happened with Alicia's ex-boyfriend and neighbors, and Elyza's parents and some friends. No one was safe.

"Okay." Elyza said and smiled, approaching the brunette to poke her shoulder affectionately. "Let's go get you some gear then, warrior."

Alicia smiled back and they resumed the walk. "If I'm a warrior do I get to wear warpaint as well?"

Elyza laughed out loud at that and brushed off some of the black make-up from her eyes to smear it over Alicia's cheek. "If you want to, cutie. It won't suit you at all, though."

As soon as she said that, she knew it was a lie.

* * *

Chapter 2 is up! I'm loving writing for this fandom, I hope you enjoy my work as well!

\- niigoki


	3. right, left

"So when you said underground, you actually meant _on_ the underground," Alicia spoke with an apprehensive look on her face as she stared down to the set of stairs at her feet.

After almost one hour walking, both girls had reached the weapon shop Elyza mentioned. The store was pretty well hidden, and a normal person passing by would completely miss it if they weren't specifically looking for it, which was obviously the whole point. The door leading to the inside was 16 feet below ground and Alicia didn't feel like going into such a small space. If any walker suddenly cornered them, there'd be nowhere to run.

"Creepy as fuck, right? I know," Elyza sounded like her normal playful self. "I'll go check if everything is clear—"

"No," Alicia stopped her with a quick hand on her shoulder. "We go together. No more leaving me behind, remember?"

Elyza opened her mouth to protest, but as soon as she looked into Alicia's eyes she stopped. The brunette transmitted an air of decisiveness that was fairly new, and Elyza's heart skipped a beat. She smirked and decided that she liked this aura that had taken over her companion; it felt refreshing and made her feel secure as well. "Alright. Grab your bat, sky girl."

Alicia gripped the handle of her baseball bat as tightly as she could and nodded, signaling that she was ready. Both started descending, first slowly and with ears peeled, paying attention to any foreign sound, then a little bit quicker, not wanting to delay too much. After what seemed like an infinity of steps, they reached the door. Elyza swallowed hard, getting really nervous to enter a new establishment for the first time – and she knew that Alicia coming with her was the whole reason for it. She couldn't explain it, but it was like an instinct; the need to protect this girl was overwhelming and Elyza had to bite her tongue to stop herself from turning around and ask her to leave.

She reached for the handle and turned, pushing the door and pointing a gun to the inside. When nothing seemed to move after a while, she nodded, urging them to go in.

The store was pitch-black, and Elyza had a flashlight in one hand. Since it had no windows, the whole luminosity usually came from the phosphorescent lights in the ceiling, but the lack of energy in the whole city made that impossible.

"Alright, the swords are around this corner. Grab one you like and let's go," Elyza's hand was shaking and she was breaking out in a cold sweat. Her neck turned left and right, paying attention to any kind of movement coming from any possible direction, and her eyes didn't stop in a single spot for more than 0.2 seconds. The Aussie's senses were so chaotic at that point that she totally shut down Alicia's presence from her mind, solely focusing on the inside of the store and her flashlight. When she felt a pair of hands holding hers steady, the almost jumped.

"You need to calm down." Alicia said, her face an inch too close. "I need to actually _see_ the swords. Come with me."

Elyza suddenly remembered how to breathe and nodded, allowing Alicia to guide her hand to wherever she needed the light.

The swords in the stand were impressive, with different shapes and sizes and Alicia actually stopped for a moment to admire them. She wasn't even a fan of samurai movies or medieval flicks, and yet the weapons left her breathless for some reason. She felt something tugging on her stomach as her eyes passed by each and every sword. She left out a breathless "wow" as she moved to touch a few of them with her fingertips.

"Try to grab one that's not so big, these things are heavy," Elyza managed to say with her backs turned to the brunette.

"Yeah…" Alicia mumbled, barely listening. Her eyes had caught one specific pair of swords and she walked towards them. She realized they were probably supposed to be used together, since they were tied up, and Alicia tiptoed to reach them. Once she took them off the stand, her hands worked to unknot the tiny rope that bound them together. Finally free, she grabbed one with her right hand and felt its weight. Elyza was right, it was heavier than she expected, but it also had a good balance. She instantly felt a connection with the weapon, and it only strengthened once she grabbed the other sword. With both weapons in hand, she twirled them around for a bit, experiencing how they felt. There was a growing warmth in her chest and she just knew those swords were meant for her.

"I found them."

"Great, let's move." Reaching out one hand to touch Alicia's backs, Elyza urged her to go first, and soon they reached the door, leaving the dreadful store.

Only when they were climbing the last set of stairs, Elyza realized it. "Wait. Them?" She looked over to the girl and spotted the two swords hanging awkwardly from her hands. "You grabbed dual swords? Why?"

"I don't know. I liked these." Alicia said with a soft smile as she looked down to her newest possession. "They spoke to me, in a way."

"Like some Harry Potter shit?" Elyza chuckled. "'This is your wand, Harry. It has chosen you.'"

Alicia laughed at the imitation, but knew that that's what had basically happened. All the weirdest things had been happening to her since meeting Elyza Lex, so for once she stopped fretting over details and just accepted what her instincts told her.

"You're the one who said you could picture me fighting my way through those things with two swords in hands. Let's stop somewhere, I want to test them." Alicia said.

"You look like a kid on Christmas Eve," Elyza replied, and the brunette could _feel_ the smirk on her voice. Alicia didn't say anything after that, and they resumed their walk east. She felt lighter.

* * *

The adrenaline from the store left both of them tired, so they didn't walk much after that. Elyza broke into the first empty house they came across and Alicia threw herself in the couch, hugging her swords close like they where a teddy bear. The blonde giggled at the scene.

"Oh, what would I give to swap places with these swords right now." Elyza teased with a wink. Alicia simply poked out her tongue, too lazy to dignify her with a worded answer.

The brunette closed her eyes and sighed happily, feeling the weight of the weapons sink deep on her chest. She couldn't wait to start cutting things in half. Her mouth turned upwards slightly as she remembered the time she smashed a house to pieces with Chris just out of spite. Having swords would've made the situation a whole lot funnier at the time.

"Thinking about your family?" Alicia felt the cushions under her head sink as Elyza sat down next to her. She opened her eyes. She'd never truly thought of Chris and Liza as 'family', not even Travis had won his way through that title yet. As far as Alicia was concerned, only her mom and Nick were her true family, but after everything that had happened it was hard to keep a stone-cold heart.

"Yeah." She answered after a bit. "How did you know?"

"You had a smile on your face. I get those occasionally."

"You're always smiling." Alicia lifted her head up just enough to place it on top of Elyza's left thigh.

"I'm always _smirking_ , it's different." Elyza commented with said expression on her face. She had placed her shotgun on a glass table near the couch and was removing the rest of her guns from her belt to be able to relax. "Did you just settle your head on my lap? Am I dreaming?"

"Don't make me get up." Alicia refuted, closing her eyes again. She felt truly peaceful for the first time in weeks and wasn't going to let the blonde ruin this with her comments. Besides, her lap was surprisingly comfortable.

"I take what I can get." Elyza chuckled and reached for her bag. She grabbed two granola bars. "Hungry?"

Alicia shook her head and Elyza shrugged, opening one. They kept in silence for a while, the only sounds coming from the blonde's mouth as she chewed on her food. A couple of minutes later she was done and sighed, happily. "It's been a while I've felt this calm."

"Yeah," Alicia agreed, still resting. She didn't want to nap in the afternoon; it would only make it harder for her to sleep at night. That's when a thought struck her. "You should sleep, you've been watching over me every single night. You can't seriously not be tired."

She was sure Elyza would decline the offer, but was pleasantly surprised when she just said "Alright."

"Wait," Alicia got up, sitting up straight and putting down her swords next to the shotgun. Then she patted her lap. "You can lie down, come on."

Elyza stared at her, but didn't make any smart remarks this time, – Alicia took this as a sign that she really was tired – removing her jacket and placing her head comfortably on the brunette's lap. She sighed contently. "Wake me up if anything happens."

"I will." Alicia said, spreading her arms at the back of the couch and closing her eyes as well.

"Goodnight, Commander." Elyza's words came out jumbled, and in minutes she was already in deep sleep. Alicia managed a small smile and a barely conscious reply before unwillingly falling asleep too.

"Goodnight, Ambassador."

* * *

She woke up with a startle, launching her torso forward only to be stopped by the weight on her legs. Looking down, Alicia realized Elyza was still knocked out and sighed, relieved for not having woken her. The blonde was probably making up for a whole week of sleepless nights and Alicia wanted to allow her that moment.

She took this time to just stare at Elyza's peaceful features. No frowns, no sarcastic smirks, no worried expression lines; just a blonde girl who was barely older than her. She realized she didn't know much about the Australian, except for the fact that her parents had died and she was good with multiple guns. She wondered what her favorite pastimes were, if she had a favorite song, a favorite movie, a favorite TV series. Did she like Thai food, was she allergic to anything? Did she like to read, did she have a favorite make-up brand, what was her life growing up in Australia?

Why did she seem so damn familiar?

Alicia let out a raspy snort; all of these questions seemed so pointless now, like they wouldn't make a difference. Once she found her family Elyza would leave anyway, and Alicia would be left behind with crawling thoughts and regrets. She dreaded the day this would happen.

Her hand moved to brush the blonde's hair slowly, starting at her scalp and going all the way to her bare shoulder. Elyza was wearing a sleeveless white shirt underneath her leather jacket, and now that it was on the floor, Alicia could see her skin clearly. It was clean and smooth like silk, which was surprising for someone who looked so rough. She brushed one finger up and down her arm instinctively, as if there was a pattern there that she couldn't see, but could feel. Alicia's eyes felt heavy all of a sudden.

"Do you believe in soulmates?" She whispered more to herself than anything. She's been trying to avoid this thought for a long time, but denying it any longer felt like a joke. Alicia was a rational and intelligent girl, and such an abstract concept just seemed idiotic on her mind. But every other explanation felt empty.

"I'm starting to," Elyza's voice was soft and raspy as she replied without opening her eyes. Alicia looked down and saw that the girl had a genuine smile on her face. "You didn't wake me, don't worry."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"I did. Thanks for keeping me safe, cutie."

Alicia grinned and kept stroking the blonde's arm. They stood there enjoying each other's company for as long as they saw fit, not bringing up the soulmate topic again. Alicia reached for Elyza's bag and grabbed the other granola bar. "How's your hand?"

"Better."

"Are you lying?"

"Not this time."

"Hm." Alicia bit her snack while she stared at the blonde. The longer she chewed, the larger Elyza's smile became, until she burst into laughter and brought the brunette along with the silliness. "You're ridiculous."

"Oh shut up, you love me." Elyza shifted to lie fully on her backs and be able to look at Alicia's face.

"I barely know you, how can I love you?" The question was thrown out there casually after the laughter died down, but carried some seriousness. Elyza frowned, confused like a puppy.

"Did you fully know all of your past lovers?"

The question caught her off guard. Throughout her entire life, Alicia has had a few crushes and whatnot, but only one actual boyfriend that she could tell with certainty that she'd loved. She'd known his passions and ambitions for the future, his favorite foods and even his family, but was that enough? At the time she never thought about it because she was in love. And even then, weren't you supposed to figure out your partner slowly as you grew up together?

"Did you?" She decided to turn the question around.

"Fuck no," Elyza's reply was blunt and straightforward, like usual. Her characteristic smirk was back and her hands were folded cutely on her stomach. "But that's the whole point, isn't it? You fall in love and then dig the layers to find out what you've gotten yourself into."

"What if you don't like what you find out?"

"But what if you really do?" Elyza's stare shifted towards Alicia's hand that was still rubbing her arm, and she gently placed her own hand on top of hers, intertwining their fingers. "It's a game of chance, I guess. You either hit jackpot, or don't. Then you move on."

Alicia squeezed the blonde's hand slightly, her jaw clenching. "That's an interesting way of looking at it, I guess."

Then both of them fell silent again, too afraid to break the fragile atmosphere. It was almost like time had stopped only for a moment and the outside world didn't matter anymore; like there was no infected, no family to go after, no fear or despair over the fact that either of them could die at any point. Elyza Lex was her anchor, Alicia had realized. As long as she was there, Alicia could fight the entire world. She didn't want her to leave, and she didn't want to ever let go of this girl, and honestly, she could say with conviction that she would lay down her life for her. How could she feel this way over someone she had only talked to for a week?

She knew the answer, too.

"Want to grab your swords and kick some ass?" Elyza finally spoke, snapping out of their stupor. Alicia smiled a bit.

"Yeah."

The blonde took a while to move, but then she finally got up and Alicia's lap felt cold and lonely. It took every ounce of her not to grab her hand again, or just touch shoulders with her, something, _anything_ to feel the girl near.

"Do you know anything about swords at all?" The blonde asked, putting her jacket back on.

"Nope. I was hoping you did."

"My thing is guns, babe, not blades." She laughed. "Well, we can figure something out together. How hard can it be?"

"Probably very hard," Alicia crouched and picked up her swords, already realizing her arms would hurt like hell after each training session. She would need to build up muscle.

"Have you named them yet?"

"Huh?"

"Your swords. They are you babies now, you need to name them!" Elyza was clearly having too much fun with this. "Names give your weapons value and makes them stronger, it's an actual scientific fact."

"It's actual bullshit, you mean." Alicia smirked and rolled her eyes.

"No it's not. Once I named my boobs I began to seduce three times more women back in Sydney." Then Elyza grabbed her right boob. "Mary-Kate," and her left. "Ashley."

"Oh my God, why."

"Just name the goddamn swords."

Alicia looked down and thought about it. She had two swords in hands that felt perfect for her, even if she'd never gotten near this type of weapon before in her life. Maybe names were necessary, and she didn't have to think much to know exactly which ones to give them.

"Fine." She lifted her right sword. "Matt," then her left. "…Liza."

Elyza smiled genuinely, knowing there was probably a good meaning for those specific names, and just nodded. "Sounds perfect."

* * *

Thank you so much for all the reviews! This story will keep going, and this chapter was a lot of fun to write.

-niigoki


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